Probably one of the most famous and sought after cigars not made on the island of Cuba, the Opus X is the first Dominican Puro to garner such high acclaim. The various sizes consistently produce high ratings from cigar reviewers everywhere. And as is often the case when someone or something achieves such a high level of success, it has fostered a kind of love-hate relationship with avid cigar smokers. Like the New York Yankees are the baseball team so many love to hate, the Opus is a cigar that in addition to high praise, it also elicits some vehement dislike from some in the cigar world who believe the cigar is over hyped and over priced. I have never heard anyone say it was a bad cigar though. Like or dislike the line for whatever reasons, everyone seems to agree if you set aside the hype, the price, and all the other outside “stuff” and take the cigars just by themselves, the OpusX line of cigars are pretty good smokes.

A big part of what makes the OpusX so special is it’s wrapper. Before the Fuentes managed to grow the wrapper that is used on for the OpusX, no one had ever successfully grown wrapper tobacco in the Dominican Republic. The Fuentes were the first to do it. The wrapper is grown in very limited quatities on thier Chateau de la Fuente farm in the Dominican. Here is the story on how the OpusX came to be as it is explained on the Cigar Family website:

The secret of the Fuente Fuente OpusX is the cigar’s exquisite, silken Rosado wrapper leaves that are grown of the Fuente family’s renown organic tobacco plantation, Chateau de la Fuente, which is located in a remote, tropical river valley in the Dominican Republic.

When the Fuentes planted their first crop of this outstanding wrapper leaf in the early 1990’s, the rest of the cigar industry scoffed because everyone else who had tried to grow wrapper in the Dominican had failed. However, the Fuentes achieved the impossible and the Fuente Fuente Opusx was born.

The cigar’s name is derived from “Project X” which is what teh Fuentes originally named their experimental tobacco crop. “Fuente Fuente” refers to the partnership of Carlos Fuente, father and son, and the word “Opus” was chosen to describe the cigar’s unique wrapper. “The tobacco was oily and rich, leading me to the word opulent, but that was too long,” Carlos Fuente, Jr., said. “And while studying the dictionary, I came across the word ‘opus’ – meaning creative work, masterpiece, a work of a lifetime. It was perfect.”

The limited nature of these cigars along with the high praise and abundance of press and hype that surrounds them, makes these cigars highly sought after and hard to find. The OpusX come in 12 basic sizes, but there are and abundance of special sizes and limited releases as well. Sticking to the standard sizes here, the OpusX is available in the following vitolas…

Belicoso xXx – 4.625 x 49

Perfecxion No. 5 – 4.875 x 40

Perfecxion No.4 Series X – 5.1875 x 43

Robusto – 5.250 x 50

Fuente Fuente – 5.625 x 46

Super Belicoso – 5.625 x 54

Perfecxion X – 6.250 x 48

Petite Lancero – 6.250 x 39

Perfecxion No.2 – 6.375 x 52

Reserva D’Chateau – 7.000 x 48

Double Corona – 7.625 x 49

“A” – 9.250 x 47

Although I have never personally put the OpusX among my absolute favorite cigars, they are excellent smokes and are a special treat. I need to thank CigarsDirect.com for the Opus xXx that I am smoking today.

The Opus xXx is also nick named the “Power Ranger” due to its reputation as one of the more robust and powerful vitolas in the line. It is a Short Belicoso and like all OpusX cigars, the presentation of this stogie is beautiful. Dressed with the very ornate OpusX band, it also sports a handsome red ribbon around its foot. The Rosado wrapper is smooth and oily with almost no veins to speak of. The xXx starts off with a lot of spice an pepper which is followed up with a slight sweetness once you work your way a bout an inch in. It is a robust and dynamic smoke delivering a mix of leather, earth, nuts, and coffee is a seemingly random pattern. It also packs a sneaky punch. It builds up slowly at first, giving the impression that it is a medium bodied smoke of average strength and as you make your way through the smoke you begin to realize that it is more full bodied than you first thought and the power of it sneaks up on you. After I was about half way through the cigar, I turned my head suddenly and the effect was surprising. I didn’t realize until then that I had a good little nicotine buzz going.

The construction is impeccable, and the burn and draw are perfect. The ash holds tight and won’t fall of unless you tap it. It burns slow and cool too. Despite its short length it still takes a good hour to smoke it. I have had the pleasure of trying the OpusX in most of the sizes listed above and the xXx is has been my favorite of them all with the Petite Lancero coming in a close second.

I have to agree that it’s a good cigar, but over-hyped. I’m concerned I might have had a counterfeit one as well, or maybe the Fuente Fuente size is just a cigar I really didn’t care for. I wrote about Opus X recently on my blog as well. Thanks for your great review.